Mountain Hemlock

grouper52

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Ah, that's a Western hemlock - different foliage. I'm trying to load a photo of the MH foliage at that other thread, but the site is not responding. I'll keep trying. The WH needles lie flat on the branchlet, the MH are more circumferential.

Great tree, BTW! And nice work with it so far.
 

grouper52

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Here's an update. Not cleaned up for showing or anything, and some parts too full, and the lower right branches guy wired lower than they should be since they don't hold well and have to be overcorrected, and . . . but I thought I'd shoot and post it anyway. Enjoy.
 

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Thanks for posting this update Will! I again, really like this tree. It's come a long way!

Rereading thru this thread, I realized I need to ask, what time of the yr. do you pinch the buds? I'm about to work mine for the first time, branch selection and it's first wire (been in the ground >1 yr) and am wondering how to manage the new terminal buds.
 

TheSteve

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when you say it won't back bud are you talking about on bare wood? because in the 3/4 of an inch where I have needles mine will bud....
 

grouper52

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Thanks for posting this update Will! I again, really like this tree. It's come a long way!

Rereading thru this thread, I realized I need to ask, what time of the yr. do you pinch the buds? I'm about to work mine for the first time, branch selection and it's first wire (been in the ground >1 yr) and am wondering how to manage the new terminal buds.

I don't pinch, I trim. I've never really paid attention to when I do it. I think I just trim back a branch when it looks like the design needs it, especially to thin things out, or to induce buds back further to increase ramification. There's probably some right time to do it, but I'm not sure when that is. Sorry.

Yes, TheSteve, it will "back bud" where there are still needles, but that's a pretty limited area, especially on this species. The problem, to clarify, is that there is no back budding onto old wood, which is what I usually mean when I say it won't back bud.
 

TheSteve

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I wasn't trying to come across as being a word Nazi. the reason I asked is that mine would bud at occupied needle sites but it is much younger than yours so I thought that might be why. Thanks for the info.
 

grouper52

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I wasn't trying to come across as being a word Nazi. the reason I asked is that mine would bud at occupied needle sites but it is much younger than yours so I thought that might be why. Thanks for the info.

And I wasn't trying to come across like you were. :)

The very first picture in the progression shows the problem I'm talking about, especially on old collected trees like this one: gorgeous foliage and killer trunks & bark - with miles and miles of long, straight, bare branch in between that will neither hold a bend well, nor back bud at all (at least in captivity).

Dan Robinson's been collecting and working with these things for several decades now, and I don't think he's ever had one back bud onto old wood. Sharon Muth told me once that she heard of someone who had said they had do so one time, but who knows.
 

TheSteve

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well I'm glad we're all on the same page ;) I'm wondering if approach grafting is an option for these
 

grouper52

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I have no idea about approach grafting. Up here where I live the growing season is so piddly that we can't approach graft much of anything usually. We have to, for instance, send our local junipers down to Southern California if we want to have Shimpaku grafted on, even though Shimpaku grows great here on its own.

But, having said that, the MHs have this weird thing going where wrapped wire will sit there, and sit there, and sit there, and sit there - and then suddenly, out of the blue, if you haven't inspected it for a week it will suddenly thicken horribly along one stretch and bury the wire almost overnight, creating an almost permanent scarring. Now IF we could get it to do some sort of trick like that with an approach graft we might be in luck!
 

TheSteve

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I've had the same problem. I think that once the wire bites slightly there is an almost instant huge callous formation. Grafting these might just work really well.
 

TheSteve

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Nope always been right here. Not drawn to the east coast at all....
 
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